A New Approach Against Sun Devils

The Trojans spent Friday viewing scenes of brutality and humiliation, of helpless victims being abused.

No, they weren’t watching videotape of Thursday’s 88-73 loss at No. 13 Arizona.

The players were given the day off and went to see the controversial Nicolas Cage film, “8MM,” at a theater near their hotel in Tempe, a USC spokesman said. Maybe watching someone else being tortured could help them forget their woes.

After playing solid defense the last seven games, the Trojans had no answer for Wildcat freshmen Michael Wright and Ruben Douglas, who scored 22 and 19 points respectively. On offense, USC starters Sam Clancy, Brandon Granville and Brian Scalabrine went scoreless.

Greg Lakey, Quincy Wilder and Jarvis Turner came off the bench to contribute 35 points, but that wasn’t enough to avert USC’s 14th consecutive loss at McKale Center.

The Trojans now face Arizona State in a regular-season finale they probably must win if they are to hope for a Sunday night phone call from the National Invitation Tournament.

Today

at Arizona State

11 a.m. PST

* Radio--XTRA (690).

* Site--Wells Fargo Arena.

* Records--Trojans 14-12, 6-11; Sun Devils 14-15, 6-11.

* Update--Arizona State has lost three consecutive games despite having three of the conference’s top five scorers in Eddie House, Bobby Lazor and Mike Batiste.